Dreikönigskuchen or Epiphany Cake Tomorrow is Ephiphany and in Switzerland we celebrate the visit of the three wise men by eating a sweet yeast cake. This ritual dates back to the 14th century, reportedly celebrated by the guilds hiding a bean in one of the buns. Around its center piece several smaller buns are attached and in one of …
A Musical Peace Mission?
A Weekend Filled With Music What are you doing on weekends? You must be doing something as my email inbox receives about a fifth of its normal flow. Are you having some time off or are you secretly working on your next posts? Today I want to share my weekend activities in Basel with you and counterbalance the recipe heavy …
Time to Play
When was the last time you made soap bubbles? And I mean: real soap bubbles, huge soap bubbles which will fly high up in the sky (well, weather and humidity permitting …)? Catch a fleeting moment and treasure it, watch a child playing and giving total commitment to the here and now.
Ladärne Usstellig – The Biggest Open Air Art Exhibition
Fasnachtzyschdig – Tuesday Basel Fasnacht – where even kings wear costumes Many will agree with me that Tuesday is the icing on the Fasnacht cake: the day when everybody is free to do what they want, enjoy themselves and live out their originality. It is a feast for all senses and above all very funny. Originally it was the day …
Morgestraich
A picture says more than a 1’000 words:
Carnevale, Carnival or Fasnacht
or What Has Meat Got To Do With It? Fasnacht or Carnival celebrates (or mourns) the beginning of Lent, the period in which you are not supposed to eat meat. In Basel Fasnacht takes place one week after Ash Wednesday. It is known to be the biggest Protestant carnival of the world, with roughly 20’000 participants. Want more history and …
Night on the Rhine
The last day of January, 2012 Last night we went to the opening of an exhibition at the Tinguely Museum in Basel: Face to Face II, photographic portraits of artists by Vera Isler. Vera Isler is a multitalented Swiss artist, born in Germany in 1931 and sent to Switzerland by her caring and worried parents in 1936. In 1980, due …
Vogel Gryff or To Whom The Bell Tolls
Vogel Gryff – A Local Custom I believe that taking part in local customs is root building, strengthens our social skills and – well – let us just have some fun! This last Friday, on a rather rainy and grey day, we celebrated a local custom in Kleinbasel (the part of the town which is on the right side of …
My Last Market
My Last Market … … in 2011! My last market in 2011 takes place in Kleinbasel on Saturday, December 17, 2011 and goes by the lovely name of Zimtmarkt (Cinnamon Market), organised by the very competent and friendly members of Matthäusverein. A lot of preparation work goes into it, we want it to be the mother of all …
A Winter Market
What makes you get up at the break of dawn on a winter morning? A promising date? A skiing trip? A crying baby? Not for me: it is MARKET day, we have packed the car yesterday, I am not so good at early morning surprises. Today, we go to Oberwil, a village close to Basel, to the Wintermarkt, one …